Caring for Bebe: Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Intervention for Hispanic Families

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PROJECT SUMMARY Children who are overweight during early childhood are at least 5 times more likely than normal weight children to be overweight/obese as adults. Yet, for 2 to 5-year-olds, the obesity prevalence is 16.7% for Hispanic children, 12.4% for non-Hispanic Black (NHB) children, 9.3% for non-Hispanic white (NHW) children, and 9.1% for Asians. Once established, obesity and its comorbid medical conditions, many of which disproportionally affect Hispanics, are difficult to treat and usually persist throughout adulthood. Thus, preventing its development as early as possible in life is critical to reduce the health care costs associated with obesity-related chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Hispanic children have a higher prevalence of behaviors and determinants that put them at a high risk of obesity including suboptimal breastfeeding, early introduction of solid foods, and poor infant sleep quality and duration. Current evidence suggests that successful obesity prevention interventions occur in infancy/early childhood and are family- based. However, few studies meet that criteria and even fewer studies target at-risk minorities. The goal of this application is to develop and pilot the feasibility of a social media-based, bilingual, multigenerational entertainment education (EE) intervention for primiparous Hispanic pregnant women and their mothers to prevent the onset of obesity in infants. The aims of this study are to conduct formative research for the development and pilot testing of an early childhood obesity preventive intervention for Hispanic pregnant women and their mothers to establish healthy infant weight, increase breastfeeding, infant sleep, and delay solid food introduction. In Aim 1a, qualitative data will be gathered on mother/grandmother dyads attitudes towards content and user engagement. The results will inform the development of EE video clips and accompanying activities. In Aim1b, we will examine mother/grandmother dyads’ acceptability of developed EE video clips, feasibility of activities, and overall approach to dissemination. A sample of 50 Hispanic pregnant mother-grandmother will be randomly assigned to either the experimental or control condition and followed for 6 months, with assessment at baseline (birth), 3- and 6-months. The control condition will proceed with care as usual. This iterative process will culminate in a pilot test randomizing 50 Hispanic mother-grandmother in a 12 week intervention versus care as usual. Additionally, changes in mother and grandmother health will be assessed as secondary outcomes and changes in social support will be examined as a potential mediators of the effect of condition on outcomes. Covariates include sociodemographic information, health history, measures on breastfeeding self-efficacy, and acculturation. In addition to feasibility and acceptability measures, preliminary effect estimates will be calculated to inform a subsequent R01 trial. This proposed study would help advance science of early childhood obesity prevention interventions by harnessing the power of social media and EE to promote health behaviors among Hispanic families.